News & Events

National Pertussis Workshop - held on 25 & 26 August 2011

Aug 2011 - Events

Hosted by NCIRS on 25 and 26 August 2011 at Darling Harbour in Sydney, the National Pertussis workshop brought together national and international experts to share the latest information on pertussis. Topics included epidemiology, vaccine efficacy, vaccine schedules, new strategies and future steps and priorities on pertussis.

Click here for a PDF version of the National Pertussis Workshop program/abstract booklet

PDFs of presentations can be accessed via the presentation title links below. Please note files are large and may take a couple of minutes to download.

April 2011 - Newsletter

December 2010 - Newsletter

New NCIRS fact sheet for providers - Adult vaccination

Nov 2010 - News

The National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance (NCIRS) has released a new fact sheet for immunisation providers on adult vaccination.

The fact sheet provides a summary of the current national recommendations on vaccines required during adulthood, including those funded under the National Immunisation Program (NIP) and those that are recommended in the current (9th) edition of The Australian Immunisation Handbook. It also highlights adults who may be at higher risk of certain vaccine preventable diseases and need additional vaccines, such as pregnant women, immigrants and health care workers.

A summary table is also provided in the fact sheet which can be used as a quick reference for providers in the clinical setting. This is to be used in conjunction with the Handbook.

The fact sheet is available on the Immunisation Resources page. The NCIRS website features a number of resources for immunisation providers including fact sheets, coverage information, and educational tools such as MMR decision aid and Myths and Realities slide presentation.

September / October 2010 - Newsletter

Researchers awarded funding to study vaccine uptake in pregnant women

Sep 2010 - News

NCIRS researchers Dr Julie Leask, Dr Spring Cooper and Dr Nick Wood were recently awarded a grant from the Financial Markets Foundation for Children to initiate a new study aimed at better understanding the behaviours and attitudes of pregnant women to influenza vaccination and pertussis vaccination postnatally.

Whooping cough, caused by the bacteria Bordetella pertussis, and influenza (the flu) are illnesses that commonly affect infants and young children. Both diseases are preventable by vaccination but high numbers of illnesses and deaths are still recorded in Australia.

This new study aims to understand the barriers that pregnant women and new mothers may have to receiving vaccines that can protect them and their children against whopping cough and influenza. Based on this research the team hope to develop a tool that can help mothers make informed decisions about receiving these vaccinations at the right time.

The project commenced in July 2010 and will be led by Dr Julie Leask, senior research fellow and manager of the social research team at NCIRS. Dr Spring Cooper is a senior research officer and will bring her experience from a study of the impact of gain versus loss frames on postnatal pertussis vaccination uptake. Dr Nick Wood is a paediatrician involved in a number of clinical research projects focused on maternal and neonatal immunisation. Ms Kerrie Wiley will be undertaking her PhD research based on this study.

The Public Health Association Australia (PHAA) 12th National Immunisation Conference was held on 17th - 18th August 2010 in Adelaide, South Australia.

The PHAA provides a forum for the exchange of ideas, knowledge and information on public health. The Association is also involved in advocacy for public health policy, development, research and training. Over 30 NCIRS staff members attended the conference and participated in presentations or poster displays. It was a successful event and well over 500 people from around the country from various health and medical backgrounds attended.

The impact of varicella vaccination three years into a publicly funded program - Dr Anita Heywood

Congenital and neonatal varicella: impact of National Varicella Vaccination Program in Australia - Dr Gulam Khandaker Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples’ Health AND Human papillomavirus vaccine: how effective is the uptake in Indigenous Australian females? - Telphia Joseph

Service delivery

Implementation of a state-wide policy directive for mandatory immunisation of healthcare workers - Dr Julie Leask Awareness and attitudes toward adult pertussis vaccination recommendations in parents and carers of four and five year old children - Kerrie Wiley

PhD student awarded scholarship to present recent influenza findings

May 2010 - News

NCIRS PhD student Dr Gulam Khandaker was awarded a competitive scholarship to attend and present his research findings at the Australian Society for Infectious Diseases (ASID) annual scientific meeting in Darwin in May.

As a member of the NCIRS clinical research team, Dr Khandaker is involved in multiple projects researching the control and management of influenza. The competitive scholarship provided by the ASID council allowed Dr Khandaker to present results from three independent influenza studies.

One of the studies described the challenges and difficulties associated with managing influenza outbreaks in aged care facilities during influenza pandemics. The results from this study were recently published in the Medical Journal of Australia (MJA).

The ASID annual conference is a national meeting which brings together researchers and specialists from a broad range of infectious disease fields, from microbial genomics to public health. Others from NCIRS who attended the 3-day conference included Director Professor Peter McIntyre and Head of Clinical Research Professor Robert Booy.

Dr Khandaker is currently completing his paediatrics specialist training while enrolled part time in a PhD at NCIRS under the supervision of Professor Robert Booy. His associate supervisor is Professor Dominic Dwyer from the University of Sydney.